dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaAn atom interferometer enabled by spontaneous decay
| Authors | R. A. Cornelussen, R. J. C. Spreeuw, H. B. van Linden van den Heuvell |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0411059 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0411059 |
| DOI | 10.1103/PhysRevA.71.033627 |
| Journal | Phys. Rev. A 71, 033627 (2005) |
Abstract
We investigate the question whether Michelson type interferometry is possible if the role of the beam splitter is played by a spontaneous process. This question arises from an inspection of trajectories of atoms bouncing inelastically from an evanescent-wave (EW) mirror. Each final velocity can be reached via two possible paths, with a {\it spontaneous} Raman transition occurring either during the ingoing or the outgoing part of the trajectory. At first sight, one might expect that the spontaneous character of the Raman transfer would destroy the coherence and thus the interference. We investigated this problem by numerically solving the Schr\"odinger equation and applying a Monte-Carlo wave-function approach. We find interference fringes in velocity space, even when random photon recoils are taken into account.
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"abstract": "We investigate the question whether Michelson type interferometry is possible\nif the role of the beam splitter is played by a spontaneous process. This\nquestion arises from an inspection of trajectories of atoms bouncing\ninelastically from an evanescent-wave (EW) mirror. Each final velocity can be\nreached via two possible paths, with a {\\it spontaneous} Raman transition\noccurring either during the ingoing or the outgoing part of the trajectory. At\nfirst sight, one might expect that the spontaneous character of the Raman\ntransfer would destroy the coherence and thus the interference. We investigated\nthis problem by numerically solving the Schr\\\"odinger equation and applying a\nMonte-Carlo wave-function approach. We find interference fringes in velocity\nspace, even when random photon recoils are taken into account.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0411059",
"authors": [
"R. A. Cornelussen",
"R. J. C. Spreeuw",
"H. B. van Linden van den Heuvell"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1103/PhysRevA.71.033627",
"journal_ref": "Phys. Rev. A 71, 033627 (2005)",
"title": "An atom interferometer enabled by spontaneous decay",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0411059"
},
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